Ivan Minekov ( bg, Иван Минеков) is one of the most appreciated contemporary

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

s. He lives and works in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. A graduate of the Academy for Fine Arts "

Nicolae Grigorescu Nicolae Grigorescu (; 15 May 1838 – 21 July 1907) was one of the founders of modern Romanian painting. There is a metro station named after Grigorescu in Bucharest. It was given his name in 1990, before which it was named after Communist army ...

" in

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Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

(1970–1975), under Professor Paul Vasilescu's beneficial guidance, Ivan Minekov's striking talent quickly attracted the attention of the Bulgarian artistic society. In the early years of his career, Ivan Minekov participated in all common exhibitions in Bulgaria, as well as in representative exhibitions in Europe. In the period between 1975 and 1990 he completed a number of large monumental works in many Bulgarian cities, among which his native

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( bg, Пазарджик ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality. The Tatars founded Pazardzhik in t ...

Burgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a popu ...

(1978),

Rousse Ruse (also transliterated as Rousse, Russe; bg, Русе ) is the fifth largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, approximately south of ...

Lovech Lovech ( bg, Ловеч, Lovech, ) is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast f ...

Dorkovo Dorkovo ( bg, Дорково; rup, Dorcova) is a village in the Rakitovo municipality, Pazardzhik Province, western Bulgaria. The population of the village is 2,955. Aromanians live in the village. Geography Dorkovo is situated in the western Rh ...

and others. In the same period he was included in the Encyclopedia of Bulgarian Fine Arts. The

Bulgarian National Television The Bulgarian National Television ( Bulgarian: Българска национална телевизия, ''Balgarska natsionalna televizia'') or BNT (БНТ), stylized as ·Б·Н·Т· since 2018, is a public television broadcaster of Bulgaria ...

produced a short film about his monumental work Levski (1987) and a documentary about the artist (1988), which is now included in BNT's golden fund. Also in 1988, Minekov's work was chosen as a symbol of the second allied space journey of Bulgaria and Russia. The portrait of Professor

Denton Cooley Denton Arthur Cooley (August 22, 1920 – November 18, 2016) was an American heart and cardiothoracic surgeon famous for performing the first implantation of a total artificial heart. Cooley was also the founder and surgeon in-chief of The T ...

(1990), founder of the

Texas Heart Institute The Texas Heart Institute is an independent, nonprofit organization that is improving cardiovascular health through trailblazing research, thought leadership, education, and patient care to forge a better future for those with cardiovascular diseas ...

, owned and deeply appreciated by Mr. Cooley, as well as Georges Ecly's interest towards Minekov's art, opened the doors to a rewarding international artistic career. In 1993-94 the Harada Collection in Tokyo commissioned Ivan Minekov to create the portrait of Peter Michailov and in the year of 2000, Minekov's inclination towards mythology and history brought to life

Dimitar Peshev Dimitar Peshev ( bg, Димитър Пешев; 25 June 1894 – 20 February 1973) was the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Bulgaria and Minister of Justice (1935–1936), before World War II. He rebelled against the pro-Nazi cabinet and ...

's portrait, honoring the great politician for saving the Bulgarian Jews in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The bust has proudly found its place in the

Palace of Europe The Palace of Europe (french: Palais de l'Europe) is a building located in Strasbourg, France, that has served as the seat of the Council of Europe since 1977 when it replaced the "House of Europe". Between 1977 and 1999 it was also the Strasbour ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. Today Minekov's works are owned by private collectors throughout Europe, USA, Israel and Japan. In the last few years the artist has participated in two exhibitions in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

(2005, 2007) and in a joint exhibition with painter Branimir Tzakov in the Seasons Gallery in Sofia (2006). He has also completed two portraits commissioned by private collectors from New York, USA. In 2007 Ivan Minekov was chosen as one of Bulgaria's leading artists to be represented on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs official website.

External links

*
Part of greater Europe - a Council of Europe release, page 56
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minekov, Ivan Bulgarian male artists 1947 births Living people People from Pazardzhik